Excerpt from ONATRIO HOMEBUILDER TRENDS 2011 (the official publication of the Ontario Home Builders’ Association)

Niagara’s housing market among province’s most affordable

DON FRASER

QMI Agency Niagara

BLAIR BURGESS

Special to QMI Agency Niagara

Alexander Bonnyman, a market analyst with the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corp., paints an upbeat picture for those considering buying into the resale market here.

He bases his affordability summary by considering mortgage interest rates, the 10% down-payment minimum and costs of carrying a home here for the average household income.

“In general, the resale market would consider affordable for the average household in Niagara,” Bonnyman said in an e-mail.

As for the new home market, he says its generally the preference of buyers moving up, with more probability the buyers will be able to put on a down payment greater than 10%.

In January, the average sale price for new single-detached homes in St. Catharines-Niagara was $463,086, he said. That covers a census area that doesn’t include Grimsby or West Lincoln.

This year, it forecasts the average resale home in that census area at about $229,000.

Taken together, a recent CMHC analysis show St. Catharines-Niagara is third-most affordable resale market in Ontario of the metro census areas it covers.

Thunder Bay is No. 1, followed by Windsor.

- Canada Mortgage and Housing Corp.: available data provided for Jan. 2012; “St. Catharines-Niagara” is a census area that doesn’t include Grimsby or West Lincoln; figures rounded of to hundreds; data for homes that have been sold